


Celestial Bonds

by The1Before



Series: Bonds [1]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2019-12-29 18:05:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18299369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The1Before/pseuds/The1Before
Summary: The phone on the other side of the connection had hung up a long time ago, but I keep my end of the connection alive, the dial tone ringing in my ear. My eyes are looking straight before me, but my mind is elsewhere entirely. I knew this day would come, I’ve dreaded it for the last 70 years.The day of reckoning has come.Project Shepherd is live.Project Shepherd never died.





	1. Somewhere, Earth

**Author's Note:**

> Canon Divergent from the beginning of 1x09
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own the show, characters or places. No money has been made. All my mistakes.

 

_Somewhere, Earth._

 

_The phone on the other side of the connection had hung up a long time ago, but I keep my end of the connection alive, the dial tone ringing in my ear. My eyes are looking straight before me, but my mind is elsewhere entirely. I knew this day would come, I’ve dreaded it for the last 70 years._

_The day of reckoning has come._

_Project Shepherd is live._

_Project Shepherd never died._

_I feel my anger rise within me. I close my eyes to calm down my emotions, but judging by the sound of glass shattering against the wall, I’m failing miserably._

_Damn Jesse Manes! Damn him to hell!_

_Why could he not leave it alone? Leave them alone._

_I stare at the home I made for myself. The life I created away from my past. But I knew I had to go back._

_I had to go home._


	2. The Wild Pony, Roswell, New Mexico

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max immediately sat up and Deputy Sheriff Evans began to check the people, corral some away from the front. Michael would have stood up if suddenly his head didn’t feel like it was in a vice grip. It felt like the night when Rosa Ortecho died and Isobel was calling for them, but this was different somehow. Before he could shout out, in pain or for Max he didn’t know, it disappeared just as suddenly. He laid there breathing like he just ran a marathon. What the hell just happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some dialogue from the episode. you'll know which ones.

 

The Wild Pony, Roswell, New Mexico.

 

Hearing that his tab was paid off in full was a bit of a surprise for Michael, especially when all he did in exchange was fix her sign.

His confusion must have been obvious on his face because Maria nodded over his shoulder.

Michael turned around to find Max sitting at a table, casually sipping a beer. The smug sonofabitch. He bit his lip in indecision, but given that in the last 6 weeks Max hadn’t been seen outside of work and the cave, curiosity won over and he walked over to him.

“You know I don’t need your charity,” he said as a greeting.

“It’s not charity,” Max answered after a sip of the beer. “It’s an exchange, my car’s acting up again.”

“You need a new engine,” he said in obvious. He might not be a certified mechanic, but he knows his shit.

“What I need is a ride to Texas,” Max showed him a flyer. Michael looked down and incredulously read the words.

“A faith healer?” Max must be losing his mind. “Max, Isobel’s organs are failing, thoughts and prayers won’t save her liver.” He watched as Max sat forward to plead his, admittedly stupid, case. Before any words could come out of his gob, the whole bar shakes and suddenly he and Max duck down when an explosion caused the front windows to burst and blow inward. People started to scream, there’s smoke entering the bar as though there was a fire.

Max immediately sat up and Deputy Sheriff Evans began to check the people, corral some away from the front. Michael would have stood up if suddenly his head didn’t feel like it was in a vice grip. It felt like the night when Rosa Ortecho died and Isobel was calling for them, but this was different somehow. Before he could shout out, in pain or for Max he didn’t know, it disappeared just as suddenly. He laid there breathing like he just ran a marathon. _What the hell just happened?_

Michael waited a bit to see if the pain would return. When there was none, he gingerly sat up and looked over to see Maria stand up behind the bench looking shaken but relatively alright. He turned and walked towards the blown up windows.

“What the hell happened?” Max asked as he stood by Michael. Michael didn’t hear him, because between the cracked glass and through to the outside he could see fire on the road and beyond that was Alex staggering and looking dazed.

Without thought Michael ran outside and screamed out Alex’s name. Alex turned to the sound of his name and Michael could see blood streaming down the side of his face. Michael ran towards him just as a black Humvee burst into the scene to stop just behind Alex. He ran faster as men in black suits came out of the car and grabbed Alex. Obviously dazed and in pain, it didn’t take much effort to force a struggling Alex into the car and drove off.

Michael made it to the spot where Alex was and watched as the car sped away. He was about to use his powers to get the car to stop, or something, when suddenly he was almost knocked sideways by Max tackling him.

He wouldn’t be told until later that he was screaming out like an injured or dying animal. All he knew was that he wanted Max to let him go so he could save Alex.

To get him back.

“Michael! No Michael you might hurt him. MICHAEL!” The screaming and shaking punched through the fog of pain and despair in his mind and cleared it enough to see a shocked Max in front of him.

“Alex…” his despair was coming back.

_ALEX.ALEX.Alex. Alex. Alex.AlexAlexAlexalexalexalex_

That was the last thought before darkness overcame him.


	3. Turquoise Mines, Roswell, New Mexico

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He wanted to hurt Michael, bring Michael into the same pain-filled level as he was, but their situations were incomparable. Liz went to college and lived her life in the safety of laboratories, whereas Alex went to the Air Force, went to war and into a battle that ended with trauma and his leg blown off. 
> 
> Maybe he really was a monster, and not because of the alien part of him.

 

Turquoise Mines, Roswell, New Mexico

 

 

This was not how he imagined he’ll spend his subsequent days Max thought as he wiped the sweat off Michael’s brow.

The moment Michael fell unconscious and collapsed in his arms, a wave of helplessness came crashing through him. It rose when Isobel walked into the pod and it crashed when Michael screamed out in pain and there was nothing he could do but hold onto him.

Max tried to rouse him there on the ground, slapped him, screamed at him, but nothing worked. He looked up to where the explosion emanated from and he watched as the fire burned down. There within the dying embers, drawn on the ground was the sign. The three pointed sign that was tattooed on his back, scarred onto so many people and now was the reason why Michael was in pain.

All because of that fucking sign.

People and emergency crews had begun to arrive on the scene, so Max had no choice but to haul Michael’s body onto his shoulders, run to the truck and to the only place he knew was safe.

The cave.

And even the trip to Texas would have been a waste. Maria had to temporarily close down the Wild Pony for repairs and police investigations (to which he was thankfully taken out of the case due to the fact he was there). Therefore she spent her days off to travel to Texas to the same faith healer and with Liz no less.

Maria bought into what the faith healer was spewing, Liz did not.

Her scientific mind couldn’t believe in the possibility (ironic, given what Max’s powers were), which lead her to find out that it was all a hoax.

Which lead to Maria going on a bender and having (‘ _mediocre, but long enough’_ ) sex in the middle of the desert with a stranger from LA ( _‘a definite show-er, not a grower’_ ) she tried to make herself forget about when she did her walk of shame ( _‘half-walk, because she had to shamefully walk back and wake up the guy to navigate back to the town’_ ). The LA guy ( _‘porcelain veneers, fake tan, implants’_ ) gave Liz his business card and hotel number to give to Maria ( _‘next time she was up for another ride’_ ) which Liz with no regrets gave to the bar owner to pay for the tab they racked up the night before. 

Max wanted to drink a whole gallon of acetone when he heard that, just so that he could forget the imagery and be able to look at Maria in the eye the next time he saw her. ( _He told Liz this as she and Kyle checked over both Michael and Is and Kyle said commiserating “I suddenly pity Alex now, no wonder he likes dudes if all he heard was the dark-side of sex with women by you two.” Which lead to Liz throwing a test tube at Kyle’s head. They all laughed a second, a moment of levity before the depressing situation came crashing back._ )

Now here he sat in the cave with nothing to do but clear up Michael’s sweat and read self-written poetry to Isobel. He felt so Goddamn useless!

Here he had the power to heal and he couldn’t even heal the two people he loved the most. He tried to heal Michael, but Michael wasn’t injured at all. If anything judging by the way he felt in his moment of connection, it was as though the very essence of Michael was absent. Not entirely absent, but like his _being_ was focused elsewhere, which they discovered had a bad side effect of neglecting the body.

Three guesses where he might be.

When he told Liz and Kyle what happened that night with Alex, Liz had gone pale and Kyle’s usual animated face became cold. It was then that Kyle explained what he and Alex discovered about Project Shepherd and Master Chief Sergeant Manes. This galvanised Liz to work harder on Isobel’s cure and had Kyle help out with making sure Michael’s body functioned.

“Max.” He looked up and found Liz, breathing hard as though she ran a marathon from the hospital all the way here. Concerned, Max stood up in time for Kyle to fly into the cave as though he was running from something.

“You going slow in your old age Valenti?” Max quipped but sounded even forced to him. Breaking heavy atmospheres was Michael and Isobel’s job. It seemed even Kyle Valenti knew that, judging by the pointed way he lifted his heavy medical bag and said nothing. “What is it?” he asked turning to Liz, who was able to get her breath back.

“We had a theory, about Michael,” she started. “By what you explained how you felt when you tried to heal him, how you can sense that he’s there but his focus was somewhere else, neglecting his body.” He patiently nodded and motioned her to explain further. With a deep sigh she took out a syringe from her bag, similar to the one that caused Isobel’s sickness in the first place. Max couldn’t help but cringe away from it and judging by the remorse in her eyes, Liz didn’t miss it. “The only way to bring his mind back-”

“We need Isobel,” he finished.

“I completed this a week before-”

“Wait a minute,” he interrupted. “Are you telling me you’ve had Isobel’s cure for a week, but you didn’t say anything!”

“Back off Evans,” he didn’t realise how close he stepped towards Liz until Kyle forcibly pushed him back. “We get it, you’re freaked out about your family. But don’t think you’re the only one that’s worried.” Guilt rose when he saw that Liz was in the verge of tears. “Liz has been working her ass off to find a cure, she’s been holding it off because the lab mice kept on dying. But that was only with Isobel in the equation, now with Alex missing and Guerin like this-” Max nodded before he could finish.

“I’m sorry.” It was inadequate, but Liz nodded in understanding. “How do we do this?”

“We do the same thing we did with Isobel when we put her in there,” Liz explained as she brought out silver jewellery out of her bag and placed them in a large bowl nearby. “We melt these down and cover your arm so you can bring her out.”

“We don’t know how much time she had left for her organs to go into critical failure before she went into the pod,” said Kyle as he brought out a large blanket. “So whatever explanation you give to her and getting her permission, you have to be quick.” Max nodded as he quickly took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves and went to stand in front of Isobel’s pod. Trying to keep down his impatience, fear and hope, he kept his eyes on his sister and back to the melting silver.

“Alex is Liz’s brother from another mother,” Max turned and frowned at the sequitur and watched as Kyle stood beside him looking at Isobel. “Liz explained to me how it was Alex who told her how she was a crappy friend to both Maria and him, and that brought Liz-the-Friend back to them.” Max kept his frown, curious where Kyle was going with this and a little jealous at Kyle’s knowledge. “Maria is freaking out. Kept on texting and calling Liz because Alex is missing, in turn freaking Liz out because she doesn’t know what to tell her. And I’m trying to get my childhood best friend back before I fucked up and turned into a ‘ _bro jock from the 80’s_ ’,” then Kyle turned to look at him and for the first time Max thought that there was more to Kyle Valenti than he thought. “You got a good chance to get your world back, but you’ve got to remember ours is still out there having God knows what being done to him.” Kyle then went over to Liz, leaving Max to his contemplation.

He didn’t realise how much Alex Manes meant to a lot of people, if he was honest with himself, he hadn’t thought about Alex any more than him being Liz’s friend and Michael’s _something._ Guilt kicked him hard in the stomach when he thought about how he used Alex as a weapon against Michael.

_“What if it had been Alex Manes?...What if the reason Alex left town that summer was me?”_

_“Yeah, you’re right. If you were the reason that Alex went to war, I’d hate you.”_

He wanted to hurt Michael, bring Michael into the same pain-filled level as he was, but their situations were incomparable. Liz went to college and lived her life in the safety of laboratories, whereas Alex went to the Air Force, went to war and into a battle that ended with trauma and his leg blown off.

Maybe he really was a monster, and not because of the alien part of him.

“Ready?”

Max turned around to see Liz holding up the bowl of liquid silver and Kyle holding up the blanket. Unable to say anything Max nodded and put his entire arm in the silver, making sure the silver covered every inch of skin.

He had always felt a connection to the pod. A warm sense of belonging that he couldn’t shake, despite the years of living with two loving parents and a twin sister. But seeing Isobel floating within the ethereal glow, all he felt was disgust and a wrongness. _She’s not supposed to be there. She belongs here._ Without hesitation, he calmly injects his arm within.

Just like how they woke up twenty years ago he placed his hand on her tiny wrist and waited. And just like then, she immediately held on to him. With a sense of anxiety, he pulled her to him and immediately brought her to his chest. She was gasping in shock and surprise, and he could vaguely feel Kyle covering her to protect her modesty, but that didn’t stop him from hugging her tight. He hugged her tighter when she gasped out a relieved “Max.”

Movement in the corner of his eye made him look up and he could see Liz standing close, with the syringe in her hand like she was going to stab Isobel with it. Before he could protect her against it – _protect Is from Liz (which was a scary thought)_ – Isobel turned around.

“Is that the cure?” Liz hesitated, looking from Isobel to Max then back.

“We’re about to find out.” She answered before determinedly stepping forward, pressing a finger on the fleshy part between her ribs and with more pressure than he thought she needed, jabbed the needle straight into his sister’s chest and plunged the entire contents. “Full disclosure: I doubled the amount of the cure in this.” Max didn’t know he looked away until he turned back to look at an unapologetic Liz with surprise.

“Why?” Isobel asked, she didn’t sound shocked only curious.

“Because we need your help,” Kyle answered.

“She just woke up,” Max argued.

“You maybe be able to prioritise _your_ family and friends Max but some of us can’t,” Liz practically hissed. Max flinched as though he was punched. He looked up to find Liz a little shocked at what she said, but no guilt.

“Max?” Isobel asked. Max gave a huge sigh, wrapped his arms around his sister and turned both of them. Isobel gave a huge gasp of fear and pain when the image of Michael came into view. He tried to hold onto her when she twisted in his arms to get away, but with a firm nudge, a blanket-wrapped Isobel swiftly went to Michael’s side. She whimpered as she caressed Michael’s cheek, his fevered face flushed and sweaty. “What happened?” she asked without taking her eyes off of her brother.

Feeling both Liz’s and Kyles gaze, Max stutters out what happened in the past few days, skipping over details during the six weeks before. He continued while he and Kyle turned around as Liz helped with Isobel changing into clothes.

“We believe that his body is shutting down due to Michael not being there mentally,” Liz theorised.

“That’s why you need me in full strength,” Isobel nodded, she turned to her twin. “Give me acetone and I’ll probably be strong enough in a few minutes.” Max was about to argue before he saw the solid determination in her eyes, he nodded in resignation.

In relief, Kyle quickly brought forth a bottle of what looked like a pint of acetone, which Isobel immediately began to drink. As they waited for Isobel to recover enough, Liz and Kyle quickly cleaned up the detritus used for Isobel and quickly set up the things needed for Michael.

Max went to sit by Isobel who kept her place by Michael’s side.

“Why are you so against this Max?” Isobel quietly asked.

“You just woke up,” he argued weakly.

“And our brother is practically _dying_ in front of us,” she practically hissed. “We may have this connection between us, but that does not make Michael any less important- any less our brother.”

“I know that.”

“Do you?” the question stung more than if his sister stabbed him in the heart. “It seems I have more faith in Liz about her cure working than you do and I just woke up. Michael is inflicted with _something_ and instead of doing something about it like me-like _us_ \- you’re arguing.”

“I just got you back,” he implored. “I couldn’t take it if I lost you, both of you, so soon.”

“You’ve got to stop putting me above Michael,” she looked straight into his eyes. “I know it’s not about gender or the connection between us. But Michael must be equal to me in your eyes. It’s hypocritical for me to say that, since even I could admit I’ll put you above Michael,” she said, guilt swimming in her eyes. “But it’s time for you to step up.”

“Ready?” Kyle asked, stopping any further discussion. Isobel gave a big sigh and nodded. She closed her eyes and the air froze, the atmosphere going quiet and still as Isobel used her powers. It stayed that way for a few minutes, enough to worry Max into intercepting, when suddenly both his siblings gave a deep gasp. While Isobel just gasped with her chest, it seemed like Michael’s entire body was gasping for air, as his back practically arched into a full circle before collapsing on the ground. Immediately everybody surrounded Michael who looked around dazed, confused and scared. He was ignoring everybody’s enquiries as his gaze was looking frantically around them and panicking when he couldn’t find it.

“Michael!” Max screamed as he grabbed his brother’s face with both hands. It seemed to work when Michael’s eyes focused on him.

“Max?” he question weakly.

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s me.” That seemed to calm his brother down a bit, but then tears formed in his eyes.

“Max, they got Alex,” he whimpered. “They got Alex.”

“Who?” Isobel asked before anyone voiced the question. “Who’s got Alex Manes?” Michael turned to her, seemingly forgetting about Isobel’s previous state.

“Project Shepherd.”

The new voice startled them badly, but that didn’t stop Max from standing up to protect his family. His hand automatically went to his side, but he forgot that he left his weapon in his house. At the entrance to the cave stood a dark-haired woman.

“Who are you?” he demanded. He could see in his periphery Kyle and Liz standing beside him.

“I know you,” Liz said confused. “How do I know you?”

“It’s good to see you again, Liz Ortecho,” the woman said, her voice light but strong. “You look just like your mother.” This left Liz speechless.

“You should know her,” Kyle said comprehendingly. “Last time we ever saw her was twenty years ago.” They watched as Kyle stepped forward.

“This is Mrs. Manes. Alex’s mom.”

 

 


End file.
